Two-dimensional polymers (2DPs) are a new type of material with enormous potential. A two dimensional polymer (2DP) is a sheet-like monomolecular macromolecule having laterally connected repeat units with end groups along all edges. 2DPs can be represented as molecular tilings where the repeat units are the vertices and the bonds connecting them are the edges.
Relevant traits of 2DPs are periodicity; they are preferably regular, not ill defined and tangled, and thinness, in at least some implementations, they should approach the limit of a single repeat unit layer. These traits may allow for controlled behavior at the nanoscale, and thus provide new materials that can be useful in a variety of applications, such as in forming membranes for separations.
Individual layers or sheets of graphite (called graphenes), molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), boron nitrides ((BN)x), and layered silicates are examples of known two dimensional polymers. While the properties of graphene are remarkable, its structure is fixed. It could be advantageous to have ability to control the structure and properties by designed synthesis. Moreover, some of the 2DPs of the prior art, such as graphene, are obtained by pyrolytic or related procedures, which require extreme processing conditions.
Accordingly, new 2DPs and new methods of making the 2DPs are needed.